Temple, Gods and Sacrifice on Slieve Gullion

It’s colder and wetter now. The climate has cooled. The crops are failing. To appease their fickle deities the tribesmen must make a powerful sacrifice. They stand nervously huddled within the shadowy chamber and restrain their drugged victim as outside the steadily weakening sun falls ominously to mark the end of the year. It’s 3000 B.C. and the native people fear the wrath of their Gods. They look from the selected one to the three stone basins inside the cruciform chamber and their stomachs clench with fear and anticipation. Any of them might have been chosen.

The place is Calliagh Berra’s Temple, dominant upon the top of sacred SlieveGullion. It is the time of the setting sun of the winter solstice.

The ancient monument, known locally as Calliagh Berra’s House, sits at an altitude of 1894ft upon the summit of Slieve Gullion, commanding a spectacular 360…